Barrel-cover holder



`(No Model.)

- S. E. VINCENT.

BARREL UOVER HOLDER.

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SAMUEL E. VINCENT, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

BARREL-COVER HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming p'art of Letters Patent No. 326,177, datedSeptember l5, 1885.

Application filed July 6, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL E. VINCENT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBarrel-Cover Holders; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple, strong, andinexpensive device for securing canvas and other'covers upon barrels,and especially to provide a device that may be used a great number .oftimes, and that may be readily loosened to permit lifting of the coverfor inspection of the contents and then tightened up again withoutinjuryto the barrel, the cover, or the holder.

It is ofcourse well understood that flour, sugar, and other barrels areused in large nu1nbers for the transportation of fruit, vegetables,oysters, &c. If the barrels are headed up, considerable room is lost;and, furthermore, more often than not, the upper he ids are broken orlost before the barrels pass into the hands of the second users,tliusvrendering a new head or else a cover indispensable. In

the shipment of fruit, vegetables, oysters, Src., the usual practice isto fill the barrels as full as possible-that is, to round over t-hetops, and then place covers over them made of can vas, burlap, orsimilar material. These covers are ordinarily held in place by nails ortacks, or else by driving off one or more of the hoops, placing them onagain outside of the cover, and then securing with nails, the latterplan being the one usually adopted. The objections to the methods offastening the covers now in use are, first, the trouble and loss oftime,- second, the injury to the cover and hoops; and, third, the factthat owing to the loss of time in unfastening and refastening t thecover when it isdesired to examine the contents ofthe barrel the onlypractical way of doing so has been to cut a hole in the cover, which ofcourse ruins it for further use until it is sewed up.

In order to obviate the above objections, and to produce a cover-holderwhich will not injure the barrel but will aid in strengthening the sameshould the hoops have become lost, I have devised the novel construction`which I will now describe, referring by letters Fig. 4, a detail viewof a portion of the holder between the heads, showing eyes for nails,which may or may not be used, to prevent th@ holder from working up, andFig. 5 a letali view illustrating a modified form of leal.

, A indicates a barrel; B, a cover of canvas, burlap, or other suitablematerial.

My improved holder consists of a band, C, l

preferably made of wire, and provided at each end with a head, D, havingeyes E. The heads of the band are preferably made integral therewith,and are formed by bending the wire backward upon itself, and thentwisting it, the eyes being formed at the saine time between the strandsof wire, as shown in Figs. l and 3. If preferred, however, the heads maybe made of separate pieces of metal, the eyes formed therein bypunching; or the heads with the eyes therein may be cast or struck upcomplete, as indicated in Fig. 5.

The operation of attachment is as follows: The cover having been placedover the barrel one end of the holder is secured to the barrel or hoopsby nails F, as shown. The holder is then settled in position around thecover, tightened up in any suitable manner, and the other end nailedalso, three nails at each end being ordinarily quite sufficient. v

In use I preferably place the holder either just below one of the hoopsor between two hoops, in order to prevent the band from slipping up. Inorder to do away with any possibility of the holder slipping out ofplace, however, I preferably form one or more eyes, G, in the bandbetween the heads, through which nails may loe passed, thus retainingthe holder in place, even if there are no hoops upon the barrel.

Vhen it is desired to inspect thc contents IOO of the barrel, one endonly ot' the holder requires to be loosened, which leaves the cover freeto be lifted.

If desired, the cover may be replaced, and the loose end of the holdersecured again with hardly 2t moments delay.

I have found in practice that these holders can be used an almostunlimited number of times.

H represents a device, similar in construction to an ordinary cant-hook,which I frequently use to tighten the holders about barrels. It consistssimply of a lever having et hook loosely pivoted thereto.v The hookengages the loose end ofthe holder, which it tightens on the principleof a lever of the second class. Any other suitable tightening devicenifty be used, if preferred. In fact, when the barrels are firm andstrong, I frel quently tighten the holders by hand.

Having thus described Vmy invention, I claimn l. A band for holdingbarrel-covers, Ste., consisting of asingle strand of wire havingits endsdoubled back upon itself and twisted, 25 the doubled portion beingprovided at Suit-V able intervals with eyes for nails.

2. :A band for holding barrel-covers, Ste., consisting of a singlestrand of wire having its ends doubled back upon itself and twisted, 3othe doubled portion being provided at snitable intervals With eyes E fornails and the band itself provided with one or more eyes,

G, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 35 in presence of twowitnesses.

SAMUEL E. VINCENT.

Witnesses:

A. M. WoosTnR.,

C. E. D. PATTERSON.

